The true jewels of most auto shows are often hidden, requiring a bit more legwork to find. During our third pass of the Chicago Auto Show, we stumbled upon a display from the Classic Car Club of America. Tucked away in a corner behind low aluminum railing, we found a stunning full-size two-door hardtop: the 1954 Mercury XM 800 Concept.

When it was first introduced at the 1954 Detroit Auto Show, the XM 800 made quite an impact. Mechanically speaking, it was fitted with a 312 cubic inch engine rated at 270 horsepower. A Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission, sending power to the rear wheels, was standard. Its design was noted for an expansive greenhouse offering passengers an almost 360-degree outside view. Benson Ford, running the Lincoln-Mercury Division at the time, pushed for the XM-800's basic design to be added to the Mercury lineup. The plan to move forward was only extinguished because the automaker switched gears to work on Edsel.

The fiberglass XM 800 traveled extensively in 1954 and 1955, making appearances at most major car shows and special exhibitions (including the Chicago Auto Show). It even had a featured role in Hollywood, appearing in the 20th Century Fox production Woman's World. In the late 1950s, the concept car was gifted to the University of Michigan's Automotive Engineering Lab to be used for training and design inspiration. Ten years later, the Mercury ended up in storage outside a barn on a farm in central Michigan. Thankfully, the deteriorating concept car caught the eye of an enthusiast who purchased it and began a 20-year frame off, nut-and-bolt restoration.

Today, the 1954 Mercury XM 800 is considered to be one of the most significant concept cars ever produced. It recently sold at the RM Auction for $429,000. Check out the press release for its interesting history and our gallery for some beautiful design.

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1954 Mercury XM 800 Concept

After the end of World War II, Ford Motor Company was in serious financial trouble. Despite being the leading automotive manufacturer during the 1920s and offering the only low-priced cars available with a real V8 engine in the 1930s, as well as some of the best looking cars on the market, the lack of a sound business plan by its founder, the indomitable Henry Ford, Sr., had left the company bleeding red ink. When the founder's grandson, Henry Ford II, took over the reigns of the company, he realized the family business was in deep trouble. Surrounding himself with the top businessmen he could find, mainly from outside the company walls, he had turned Ford around from a loser to a winner within a few short years. And the best was yet to come! Taking a cue from his father, Edsel Bryant Ford, the young Henry not only surrounded himself with those who knew and understood business, but he also looked to the brightest and the best in terms of styling and engineering. When the all-new 1949 Ford hit the market, it was a winner in every respect. It is considered by many historians to be the car that truly saved the company and set the industry as a whole on the road to world domination in the field of automotive technology and production.

As was the case with every other major car maker in America, Ford realized that it had to keep coming up with something new and exciting to keep the customers coming back every couple years. While the Model T had served the motoring public well for nearly 20 years, the turn-over for new designs now lasted an average of only three years. In order to gauge just what the public wanted and desired, concept cars, often referred to as Dream Machines, were produced to test new ideas. For 1954, Ford Motor Company fielded two new entries in the show circuit, a sporty little two-seater called Thunderbird and a stunning full-size two-door hardtop produced under the Mercury banner and presented as the XM-800. Ford's head of design, George Walker, sent this project to the Mercury Pre-Production Design Studios which was headed up by John Najjar. As with many of the projects to come out of this top secret facility, the public's reaction to this vehicle would weigh heavily on the decision to either get this car ready for production or to send it off, into oblivion.

Initial designs for the XM-800 used smooth and sweeping lines to present a streamlined profile with lavish use of contoured chrome trim badges and a great deal of decorative gingerbread. That was until an up and coming designer by the name of Elwood Engle stepped in and lent his hand to the project. He suggested a more subdued and toned-down use of chrome, softening the lines to provide a graceful, clean and elegant look.

When the final design work was completed, Ford contracted with a leader in the building of prototype and special one-off cars, Creative Industries of Detroit. Even with record profits rolling into Dearborn, costs were still a major factor, so it was decided that the XM-800 would be based on a standard production Mercury Monterey chassis. To keep with the newest of trends, all of the body panels would be constructed of fiberglass. This conserved not only financial resources, but also timing as the entire project was completed in just a matter of months. When the XM-800 made its debut at the 1954 Detroit Auto Show, it was an instant success with the press. It was hailed for its wide open use of glass in the greenhouse area, offering drivers and passengers alike an almost 360-degree panoramic view of scenery and traffic. So impressive was the final product, that Benson Ford, who headed up the Lincoln-Mercury Division at the time, pushed for the XM-800's basic design to be added to the Mercury line-up and prompted literature of the day to note that this car had been "engineered for full volume production." However, at about the same time as the XM-800 was being revealed to the public the company had formed a committee to investigate new products for the company, and they decided that an entire new line should be produced. This new line eventually became the Edsel.

Under the hood of the XM-800, an experimental version of the new overhead valve Y-block V8 was installed, reported to displace 312 cubic inches, capable of nearly 270 horsepower and backed up by a Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission. A number of promotional items were produced, including key-chain fobs and even a toy car offered as a premium in Post brand cereals, which are considered quite collectable today. During the 1954 model year and into early 1955, the XM-800 was highly promoted, making appearances at major car shows and special exhibitions across the country. During the year it was loaned out to the movie studios and had a featured role in the 20th Century Fox production Woman's World, starring Clifton Webb, Van Heflin, Cornell Wilde, Fred Mac Murray, June Allyson and Lauren Bacall. A copy of this film comes with the car.

As one looks over the XM-800, one can pick out many styling cues seen in later production Fords and even competitors' vehicles. The forward slant of the front pillars and wraparound windshield were both seen on Mercury, Ford and Edsel models, while the forward canted headlight treatment was used in production Mercury cars for 1955 and 1956.

In 1957, after the XM-800's service to Ford Motor Company had come to an end, it was gifted to the University of Michigan's Automotive Engineering Lab to be used for training and serve as inspiration for future designers. In the 1960s, having decided that its contributions to further education had run their course, the University sold the car at auction to a private individual. Unfortunately, the owner of the car has been lost to history as he took the vehicle to a farm in central Michigan and stored it in a barn where he rented space for one year. Needing the room for more important things, the XM-800 was pushed outside by the farmer and left to sit in the elements until the mid-1970s. At that point this unique car caught the eye of a young car enthusiast who was able to purchase it from the farmer.

The initial hope was to restore the XM-800 and he therefore proceeded to disassemble it. While his plans did not come to fruition, his actions did preserve the car from further deterioration, and it eventually ended up in one of the largest collections of concept cars – still unrestored – for the next 20-plus years. The car was then sold to the current owner who was able to complete the dream of a masterful frame off, nut-and-bolt restoration. A consummate perfectionist, he set about researching the original drawings, photographs and details. When the finished product was unveiled, it was once again hailed as being one of the most beautifully crafted automobiles to ever come from Ford Motor Company. Today, the interior of the XM-800 is just as stunning as the exterior, with its fully restored instrument panel and individual seating for four.

As the body was made of fiberglass, rust was not a major issue of concern. The chassis was also solid as it was estimated it had less than five or six miles on it from new. But the goal was more than to just bring it back to its 1954 show car status, but rather to make this an operational vehicle as well. It is interesting to note that the chrome trim on the car, including the Dagmar front bumpers, is actually fiberglass that was chrome plated.

As a show car, several electric devices were originally installed in the car, such as the gauges and radio, but they had never been hooked up or used. The automatic openers for the hood and deck lid are operational, just as they were on the original show car. Powered by 6-volt motors and a 115-volt timer mounted in the trunk during the exhibitions, they are now controlled by switches on the dashboard.

A number of styling cues on the XM-800 were predictions of just where future products were going. The greenhouse of the car has a streamlined contour with a rakish wrap around windshield featuring forward canted A-pillars that would be seen in many of the company's 1957 model year products. Headlights were "Frenched" into the fender (a process that customizers of the day were discovering) with canted housings which would appear just the next season on the medium priced Mercury line. Even the hood reflected new innovations with a functional hood scoop to allow for freer breathing carburetors, as well as adding another element of style. Aerodynamic touches were applied to the wheel openings, cutting down on atmospheric drag through the use of skirted front fenders and removable shields to the rear.

Since its completion, the XM-800 has been invited to a limited number of the most prestigious automotive exhibitions in the country, and other invitations are still being received. Considered by many to be one of the most significant concept or "dream" cars ever produced by the automotive industry, this is a one-of-a-kind hardtop of tremendous historical importance.

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really significant and cool dream car. The louvered rear C pillar trim was sort of picked up on the '56 Mercury Phaeton 4 door pillarless hardtop and a similar (though much smaller) rearmost triangular window was used on the '56 Lincoln 4-door sedan.
http://forum.love-fords.org/attachment.php?s=a2818c2c4191c98a4cd348870410100a&attachmentid=859&d=1275919883

It's stunning.
What do you think the eight power switches are for? I figured out two for the wing windows, two for the front door windows and two for the rear windows? But two buttons are unaccounted for.

According to an embedded YouTube vid of a press release back then one or more of the switches is for a power reclining passenger seat which is demonstrated in the video.
http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=1954_Mercury_XM-800
Scroll to the bottom of the page to watch it.

Interesting question. I wonder if the two rearmost side windows were meant to pivot open like vents? They might have just been dummies back then for symmetry, lol. Or window locks of some sort. So much switchgear wasn't labeled back then. You were meant to read the manual, though of course, this concept car wouldn't have an owner's manual.

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It's a great car, typical of concept car design by the manufactures, It looks nothing like a 54 Mercury but has its drive train. I can just imagine the hype at Ford when the Y block OHV engine was released this year. Ford O Matic, Merc O Matic is just a sales designation befitting to each mark, its a Borg Warner Air Cooled Transmission. GM were close on their heels with the small block Chevy, times must have been interesting in those years.

Parents had a '52 Monterey when I was a kid, and the '54 Merc wasn't that much different. However, I see a lot of styling cues from the XM 800 that appeared on later Mercury and Lincoln models in the '50s (like our family's '57 Montclair).

I am Tom Maruska, former owner and restorer of the XM-800. In your article above you write that an enthusiast purchased the car and began a 20 year frame off restoration. That is not correct. The person that held the car for 20 years was a collector who purchased the car from the young man who saved the car from destruction, Dan Brooks. Dan sold the car to the collector who simply stored it for 20 years and then sold it to me. I restored the car over the winter of 2008/9 and sold it at the 2010 RM auction in Phoenix AZ.
The complete history of the XM-800 and it's restoration can be seen on my website at http://www.tbirdsquare.com

That thing is hideous! The form has almost nothing to do with its function. And the worst part is that it inspired some pretty awful Fords, Mercurys (Mercuries?) and Lincolns in the the '50s. Seeing this affirms that there has been automotive progress in the past five decades.